A movie worth buying on Blu-ray! (Top Gun (Blu-ray))

Member Name: sakura8

Product:	Top Gun (Blu-ray)
Date:	17/03/09 (57 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Improved sound quality, very interesting special features

Disadvantages: Kelly McGillis looks even worse in HD!

Top Gun is a highly successful iconic cheesy 80's classic and I think I can safely assume that most people are familiar with the story. However, for those who don't know the film here's a quick summary:
Tom Cruise plays a pilot called Maverick, who attends an elite Naval flying school called Top Gun with his buddy Goose, played by Anthony Edwards. Top Gun is about proving who is the best pilot, with plenty of jock-style banter amongst the pilots, particularly between Maverick and Ice Man (played by Val Kilmer). Kelly McGillis plays Charlie, who is a civilian flight instructor and provides the love interest for Maverick.

Although I like the film, this review is mainly about the merits of the Blu-ray version.

My fiancé already owned Top Gun on normal DVD, so I was quite sceptical about whether it was worth him buying the movie on Blu-ray, but after watching it I was convinced it was worth the extra money.

We watched it using a PS3 on a Samsung 40" HD Ready Widescreen LCD TV and the picture quality was very crisp and clear. I definitely discovered the benefits of High Definition whilst watching Mr Cruise and his pals play volleyball slathered in baby oil, which the director Tony Scott admitted to being like soft porn! HD sadly does not favour Kelly McGillis at all well, as she looked even older and more ridiculous being paired with the young Tom Cruise.

What impressed me most about the Blu-ray version is the sound quality is vastly improved. Everything from the memorable soundtrack to the thunderous roar of the jets makes this film come more alive and you feel like you're amidst all of the action high in the sky. Our TV isn't renowned for the quality of its speakers, so if you have the luxury of full surround-sound then I think you will be well and truly blown away.

I love watching old films like Top Gun, as there are so many actors and actresses who have now become famous and it's fun to see how they started their careers:
* Tom Cruise who played Maverick (most famous for jumping up and down on Oprah's sofa declaring his love for Katie Holmes)
* Anthony Edwards who played Goose (most famous for his stint on ER as Dr Greene)
* Tim Robbins who played Merlin (most famous for the brilliant The Shawshank Redemption)
* Meg Ryan who played Goose's wife (most infamous for her prickly interview with Parkinson)
* Adrian Pasdar who had a tiny role playing Chipper, which Tony Scott wrote just for him (most famous for playing Nathan Petrelli in Heroes).

There are loads of Special Features and they're really worth watching, even just for the laughs you will get from seeing the horrendous haircuts the actors had before they acquired stylists (e.g. Tom Cruise with a pony tail!).

I found the 'Danger Zone: The Making Of Top Gun' really interesting, but it is very long at two and a half hours, however this documentary is split into 6-parts for more manageable viewing. Jerry Bruckheimer and Don Simpson talk about the difficulties that they had to overcome with the Navy to get the movie made and how the script was initially rejected by Paramount Pictures.

Commentary from Peter Pettigrew (a real Top Gun instructor who was recruited for his expertise as a Technical Advisor for the film) reveals what aspects of the movie were true to life of the real Naval Academy and what was changed for dramatic licence for the pleasure of the viewing public.

I enjoyed watching the Survival Training featurette, which showed what the actors had to endure, as they had to learn how to use the ejector seat and they had to experience hypoxia. However, all this was pointless as none of the actors could cope with being passengers in the F-14 jet planes for the aerial filming and they all threw up! Instead the shots were filmed in mock-ups of the cockpits, however you will appreciate the skills of the real pilots who did all the aerial filming, as back then they couldn't rely on CGI. Sadly one of the stunt pilots died during filming of the flat spin sequence, which further emphasises the poignancy of Goose's death in the film.

If you're a big fan of the movie soundtrack, then you'll be pleased to know there are 4 music videos that are included in the Special Features, so you can reminisce about big hair and bad clothes.

Available for just under £13 from Amazon and Play.

Summary: A classic film gets a winning Blu-ray makeover